The previous post, “Sailing to Alaska” is an easy to read overview of our “big trip” over the summer. It was written for non-sailors, family and friends. I have expanded the detail of our Alaska trip in the following posts for cruisers who may be interested in seeing Alaska from their own boat. Naturally, this cruising area isn’t for everyone but for those who go to Alaska and who like wild, untouched natural beauty you, like us, will fall under her spell and a lot of good things will happen!

As always, all pictures here are taken by me. Those that aren’t have the url picture credit embedded in the image and by clicking on the picture a new page will open which will take you there. I find this less intrusive than putting a lengthy url under each picture or

The call of nature could be ignored no longer. A long dreamt of sabbatical from the salt mines of gainful employment was at hand. It was time to put the family on the sailboat and take off to Alaska.

I was fortunate that my employer had (perhaps rather rashly) agreed to a three month sabbatical earlier in the year. After confirming that I would still have a job when I returned, we spirited the children out of school early and began our voyage. For us freedom began June 1st when we finished provisioning the boat, putting gear, clothes and children aboard and then slipped away from the marina in Seattle to head north to Alaska. Three months and 4,000 miles later we have returned.

Our destination was the 49th state, to be sure, but more importantly our aim was also the

“And you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it’s sinking
Racing around
To come up behind you again”  – Time, Pink Floyd

Today I dropped my daughter off at pre-school and her teacher, asked me, “Off to Alaska soon, right?” When I nodded and told him we leave in June and that I was on my way to the boat to do some work he was surprised, “Work? What work? Don’t you just sail off and enjoy yourselves?”

Hmmm. Those of us who own boats and use them know how far from the truth that idea is. The rest of the population, i.e., EVERYBODY else really has no concept of what needs to be done to make voyaging reality. Two things in almost limitless abundance are required: time and money.

Mounting small instruments

Every boat heading offshore needs one and an abandon ship bag, or “ditch bag” is just like life insurance. The contents may save your life but putting one together and thinking through the implications, calculations and complications is much like applying for life insurance: unpleasant but probably a damned good idea.

Like most cruising boats, we have a life raft on deck ready to go if needed. The only situation I can foresee that being necessary is if we meet with a fire on board or a collision at sea which causes the mother ship to sink. Bad weather I don’t believe will figure into it as if it is bad enough out there to sink the big ship, God forbid you test it out in a dinky little rubber raft. The only time we would launch the life raft